April 29, 2014

After the charges were dropped, the University ended my suspension, and I returned to school on November 17th. I rejoined my activities immediately and got back into the swing of things.

The administration expressed their surprise and thoughts about what happened to me. My return to the University was not anticipated, nor was it expected to happen so quickly. It was expected I would plead guilty to a lesser charge because of the weight of the allegations. I am one of few students who has successfully resumed my life at the University after being charged of serious felonies.

I am not honored for holding this position by any means.

I was told that it was unfortunate that this happened and that the system is imperfect, but that ultimately a semester isn’t really that much time in the grand scale of things. I lost thousands of dollars in legal fees alone, I lost my fall semester, and I had to bear the anguish of spending five nights and six days in a jail cell. In that one semester, I was unable to salvage any credits and lost opportunities to enhance my social life at the University. Upon my return, I was asked by my peers where I was, what had happened to me, and why were police escorting me out of Wilson Hall that day. I never had a good explanation for anyone.

The administration told me that there were lessons learned from my events. It was a sobering reality to them that people do get falsely accused and that we do not live in a perfect world.

How much are these administrators paid? Too much. And the University of Virginia already has a 55-45 female-to-male ratio. I doubt this will make more men want to come.